Christianity
"I'm convinced that all religions contain some truth; at best only one can contain all truth. Having investigated as many as I can, and having evaluated Christianity, I'm convinced that one is indeed much more true than the others. That's why I'm a follower of Jesus." ''- Dr. Bob'' A Christian -- follower of Jesus Christ -- believes that Jesus said we're all sinners, and are separated from God by our sin, and this makes us already condemned for our wrongdoing. However, the gift of God is the sacrifice of Jesus which reconciles us to God, if we'll trust Jesus to save us. There are only sinners. Just sinners. All sinners. But some have asked Jesus to have them. A Christian is someone that believes that Jesus Christ is the incarnate word of God, savior of mankind 'What makes a Christian ' Being a Christian is between Jesus and you. The church you belong to doesn't make you a Christian. What you do on Christmas and Easter doesn't make you a Christian. What church your parents go to doesn't make you a Christian. Having crosses on the wall or around your neck doesn't make you a Christian. A Christian is a person that believes Jesus Christ when he says, : "'For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son." - John 3: 16-18 (NIV) Sadly, there are many people in Catholic churches, in Baptist churches, in Methodist churches, in Presbyterian churches, and in every other denomination that doesn’t believe in Jesus the way he described. They go through the motions of church because it makes them feel better, or because it's tradition, or because that's what their mother told them to do. And that doesn't do them any good. Being a Christian is an individual thing, not a congregational thing. 'Immediate Salvation' Jesus says that A) we are condemned already, and B) that whosoever believes in him will not perish. Thus we can move from unsaved to saved! Since Jesus was not dead at this point, either Jesus was a liar, or we all have the ability to be saved. 'Living a Perfect Life' Christians aren't perfect. Sometimes it's unreasonable that people expect them to be. But it's also telling, because people inherently know that following Jesus means a higher standard of behavior. Trying for perfection and failing is much better than trying for whatever pleases you. 'Doing Good' Christians do good because they love God and want to please him, just the same way a child wants to please a parent, or a husband wants to please a wife. That's what love does. We want to be as much like Jesus as possible, and we believe it's important to spread his love to others by serving as Jesus' hands and feet, ministering to others because God loves them, just as much as he loves us. 'Hypocritical Christians' All Christians are hypocrites! They attempt to adhere to a standard of behavior that is perfect. They can't do it! They fail! They screw up! But that doesn't mean they shouldn't strive for perfection anyway. The only alternative is the "good enough" standard, which isn't a standard at all. "Good enough" is selfishness. It says "I'll be good enough so that I'm happy with myself." In other words, it disregards the needs of others. 'Christians Reflect their Religion' If you're looking at Christians and their failures as a reason to reject the message of Jesus, you're falling victim to fallacious thinking. The actions of a follower don't have any bearing on the truth claims of a religion . The religion's truth claims must stand on its own. Let's say Hitler likes hot fudge sundaes. Does that make hot fudge sundaes any less tasty? Of course not. In the same way, your neighbor, a Christian, is a jackass. Does that make Jesus' statements about your need for salvation any less true? Again, no. 'If Christianity is Wrong' If Jesus is not who he said he was, then we are without hope, at the mercies of a God who is not just or loving, or living at random in a life that is ultimately futile, with no God and no permanence and no real meaning to what we do. Life is just illusory, if that's the case. If Christians are wrong, neither you nor they will know it. They will simply cease to exist. They will have wasted a bunch of Sunday mornings in church, and a bunch of hours reading a book that still is the most influential work in history. That's all. They lose very little, really. If the atheist is wrong, then they've gained a few thousand hours to spend on pursuits other than church, and they've lost eternity. It makes more sense to live like there was a God and find out there wasn't, than to live like there were no God and find out there was. See Also... *Pascal's Wager 'Growth of Christianity' Christianity is growing explosively in China. It is spreading throughout South America, and in the Soviet Union where atheism was once the norm, it has come back strongly. A recent survey published in Time Magazine found that about 90% of people still say they believe in God, with close to 10% saying they were atheists, and less than 1% admitting to being agnostic. 'Related Topics' *Atheist *Calvinism *Christian's Violent Past *God *Religion *Sin Category:Dr. Bobisms